ARHP and ARHP Members in the news

ARHP strives to recognize members for their good work. Read below about the great things members have been up to lately.

Have member news to share?

Recently get published, quoted in the press, join a new department, open a new clinic? Tell us about it. Contact ARHP’s membership department at (202) 466-3825 or send an email to membership@arhp.org

ARHP member Ann Furedi is quoted by Telegraphnews.co.UK: Abortion row re-ignited as baby survival rates remain static.

ARHP joined countless members of the medical, scientific, and advocacy communities that worked to push for the reversal of POPLINE’s decision to censor abortion-related content on the widely used reproductive health database. The Associated Press quotes Wayne Shields, ARHP’s President and CEO, on the situation.

ARHP PRESS STATEMENT: Reproductive Health Professionals Criticize Censorship of Content Related to Abortion on USAID-Funded Database; Applaud Dean’s Reversal

Health Site Blocked 'Abortion' Searches from the Associate Press

Hopkins restores access to health site from The Baltomore Sun

AP Press discusses ARHP member Andrew Kaunitz's research: More Contraception Choices for Women 40.

Article on Spiked sites ARHP member James Trussell’s research Why rising abortion rates are not a problem.

ARHP Immediate Past Chair, Lee Shulam, talks to American Medical News: New ACOG position on abortion refusal drawing fire.

ARHP Member, Carolyn Westoff, talks to The New York Times, Pregnancy Problems Tied to Caffeine

University of Chicago Medical Center press release, Sense of personal control influences Latinas' decisions about sexual debut, about ARHP member, Melissa Gilliam, MD, MPH, study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

ARHP member Jamens Trussell and L.L. Wynn contribute the January editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Reducing Unintended Pregnancy in the United States.

ARHP members J. Joseph Speidel and Richard A. Grossman contribute the December editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Family Planning and Access to Safe and Legal Abortion Are Vital to Safeguard the Environment.

Congratulations to ARHP board members, Drs. Godfrey and Spear, for their article, The Contraceptive Patch: Risks Versus Benefits, published in The Female Patient (TFP). The article appeared in Contraception Corner, a quarterly series, which is managed by ARHP.

ARHP board members, Mitchell D. Creininand Pablo Rodríguez, and Elisa S. Wells, ARHP program consultant, contribute the November editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, From American Idol to Plan B: A Call for a Shift in Priorities.

ARHP medical director Beth Jordan, education associate Shama Alam, and Susan M. Hadley, contribute the Ocotber editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, The Clinical Implications of Screening for Violence Against Women.

ARHP member, Pat Paluzzi, and ARHP staff member, Sara Holmes, contribute the July editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Providers, Parents and Communication: The Keys to Healthy Teens and Reducing Teen Pregnancy Rates.

Statement issued by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of Dr. Carhart, ARHP member and plaintiff in one of the current cases, Gonzales v. Carhart, and in Stenberg v. Carhart (2000).

James Trussel, ARHP Member, discusses hike in birth control prices in Daily Princetonian

Letter to the Editor from ARHP President and CEO, Wayne Shields, and member, James Trussell, published in the The New York Times, Birth Control Coverage

To the Editor:

While the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit may have ruled that it is not discriminatory for Union Pacific to exclude contraceptive coverage in its health plan, it is clearly fiscally irresponsible (“Court Says Health Coverage May Bar Birth-Control Pills,” news article, March 17).

Recent published research shows that the direct medical costs of unintended pregnancies in the United States were estimated to be $5 billion a year, while direct medical cost savings due to contraceptive use were estimated to be $19 billion.

Union Pacific is likely to spend significantly more for unintended pregnancies than it would have spent on contraceptive coverage.

Fiscally irresponsible, indeed. Shareholders, are you listening?

James Trussell
Wayne Shields
Princeton, N.J., March 17, 2007
The writers are, respectively, director of Princeton University’s Office of Population Research; and president and chief executive, Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.

ARHP members, Cathy Lazarus and Lee Lee Doyle, along with ARHP staff member, Shana Brown, contribute the February editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Securing the Future: A Case for Improving Clinical Education in Reproductive Health.

Beverly Whipple, ARHP member, Barry Komisaruk, and Carlos Beyer-Flores, have compiled several decades' worth of knowledge into a new book called The Science of Orgasm. In a Q&A with Wired News, Whipple and Komisaruk discussed what we're learning about the eternal mystery of the Big O, Exploring the Mind-Body Orgasm.

ARHP member, Rev. Debra Haffner, contributes the January editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Faith Matters: Communicating Sexual and Reproductive Health Values.

SSSS presented its Kinsey Award to Rutgers College of Nursing's Beverly Whipple, ARHP member.

ARHP member Nancy Stanwood's study appears in December Obstetrics & Gynecology: Young women unfamiliar with safety, effectiveness of IUD. Abstract: Stanwood NL, Bradley KA. Young pregnant women's knowledge of modern intrauterine devices. Obstet Gynecol. 2006 Dec;108(6):1417-22.

ARHP member, Beverly Whipple, Named One of World's 50 Most Influential Scientists by New Scientist magazine in its November 16, 2006 edition.

ARHP member, David Grimes, comments on a study published in Contraception for Health Day: New Year-Round Contraceptive Pill Safe and Effective.

ARHP member and medical director talk about hormonal contraception and increased risk for HIV:

Beth Jordan, ARHP's medical director, quoted in The Plain Dealer, Study finds risk of getting HIV not raised by birth control pills.

Past ARHP board chair and member, Trent MacKay, quoted in UPI's release, Hormone contraception doesn't up HIV risk.

ARHP member, Beverly Whipple, quoted in Forbes Health Innovations, Aphrodisiacs That Really Work.

Emergency Contraception: No Help if Women Still Can't Get It: ARHP-managed website, www.Not-2-Late.com, and ARHP member, James Trussell, mentioned in Aleternet.com article.

The Association of Reproductive Health Professionals receives the 2006 Aesculapius Awards Award for the emergency contraception Website - http://www.not-2-late.com - which is co-managed with the Office of Population Research at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

ARHP member, Beverly Whipple, quoted in CNN.com article: The Big O: Fireworks? Or is your sex life less than explosive?

Politicizing Birth Control, an op-ed by ARHP member Carole Joffe, appears on TomPaine.com, an online public affairs journal of progressive analysis and commentary.

Chicago-Sun Times Op-ed: Federal abortion ban endangers women's health written by ARHP member, Cassing Hammond, MD.

ARHP member, Dr. Evan Myers, contributes the November editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Why I Read the Contraception Editorials: Another Perspective from a Nontraditional Association of Reproductive Health Professionals Member.

October 10, 2006

ARHP member, Dr. David Grimes, quoted in Washington Post article, Labor Drug Assailed.

ARHP cited in Daily Iowan article on Emergency Contraception, Coalition backs emergency pill.

Abortion Hotlines Feel the Crunch by ARHP member Carole Joffe.

ARHP member, Dr. Evan Myers, contributes the October editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, HPV Vaccines: Now That They're Here, How Do We Maximize Their Benefit?

Letters to the Editor from ARHP President and CEO, Wayne Shields, and member James Trussell.

Published in the Wall Street Journal.(Eastern edition).New York, N.Y, August 21, 2006. Page.A.11

You claim that the FDA controversy over approving the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B for over-the-counter use is a minor issue (Plan B Sideshow, Review & Outlook, Aug. 4). We disagree. It is a major issue when the FDA departs from past practice to make a decision on the basis of politics and not science. And access to emergency contraception is a major issue for women who experience a broken condom, are raped or have unprotected sex for any reason, thus facing a potential unintended pregnancy. The Plan B debacle is minor only to those who have not followed the absurdity of the FDA's actions -- or inactions -- on this very major issue.

While FDA acting commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach has had very little to do with past decisions about Plan B -- all mired in politics rather than science -- he is now in the enviable position to take a more positive step.

James Trussell, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.

Wayne Shields
President, Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, Washington

Wayne Shields, ARHP President and CEO, quoted: FDA seeks to resolve delay over pill's OK.

ARHP medical director, Dr. Beth Jordan, and president and CEO, Wayne Shields, contribute the August editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Mechanism of Action of Emergency Contraception Pills.

Lee Shulman, ARHP Board Chair, comments on FDA approvial of Implanon, from The Baltimore Sun.

Lee Shulman, ARHP Board Chair, weighs in on embryonic stem-cell research bill, from Wired.com.

Beth Jordan, ARHP Medical Director letter to the editor published in The Anniston Star: Controversy over contraceptive.

ARHP member, Philip Darney, and president and CEO, Wayne Shields, contribute the June editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, The Society of Family Planning.

ARHP member, Philip Darney, and medical director, Dr. Beth Jordan, contribute the June editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Reproductive Health Risks in Perspective.

1943-2006

Felicia H. Stewart, MD, Reproductive Health Pioneer and Advocate, Dies at age 63

Felicia H. Stewart, MD—reproductive health pioneer, colleague, mentor, and dear friend—passed away on April 13, 2006. Dr. Stewart was chair of the ARHP policy committee and past chair of the ARHP board of directors.

Click here to read more about her life.

ARHP Member James Trussell quoted in Glamour Magazine: The new lies about women's health.

ARHP Board Member Dr. Scott Spear quoted in The Badger Herald article: Plan B debate takes stage at forum.

Pablo Rodriguez quoted in 'Patients Plagued by Sick System, New Englander's Suffer with nation's symptoms' Rutland Herald article.

Letters to the Editor in the Baltimore Sun
Published Headline distorts birth control studies

The Sun's alarmist headline about two recent birth control patch safety studies does not accurately reflect the evidence from the studies (Birth-control patch users risk blood clots, Feb. 17). Many readers will be frightened and confused as a result.

Preliminary data were released on two large studies that compared the contraceptive patch with oral contraceptives.

The two studies reached different conclusions regarding the risk of venous thromboembolism (blood clots in veins): One noted a moderately increased risk for users of the birth control patch over that for users of oral contraceptives, and the other found no difference.

While medical literature is complicated and often difficult to interpret, when study results conflict, the appropriate response is to report that the question remains unsettled, and that more research is needed before any conclusion can be reached.

Our concern is that unbalanced reporting of these studies may hurt women's health and contribute to a rise in unintended pregnancies.

Dr. Lee Shulman
Dr. Beth Jordan
Washington

The writers are, respectively, the chairman and the medical director of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/letters/bal-ed.le.25ffeb25,0,557837.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines

ARHP medical director, Dr. Beth Jordan, and president and CEO, Wayne Shields, contribute the editorial to Contraception, An International Reproductive Health Journal, Can We Improve Contractive Use?